


Subterranean Homesick Alien

by PazithiGallifreya



Series: Carry That Weight [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Severitus, Severus Snape Lives, self indulgent fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 04:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7207250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PazithiGallifreya/pseuds/PazithiGallifreya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily Luna's first week at Hogwarts could have gone a little better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Subterranean Homesick Alien

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has nothing whatsoever to do with The Cursed Child and does not incorporate any elements of the play, if anyone is worried about spoilers. It is entirely AU and basically some tooth-rotting self-indulgent fluff about Snape and his favorite grandchild because I feel like it and you can't stop me. :)

“What are you doing there, Ms Potter?”

 

She was humming tunelessly to herself as she smashed the flitterbloom pods with the flat of the knife and used the end of it to drop them into the cauldron.

 

“Ms Potter!”

 

She flinched at his raised voice, not having heard him earlier.

 

“Professor Wright?”

 

He was staring down into her cauldron with a pinched look on his face. What had she done wrong?

 

“Did you read the instructions, Ms Potter?”

 

Lily Luna Potter blinked up at her new Potions instructor, unsure why he was already cross. It was only the end of the first week and was the first Potions class they'd actually started brewing something. She glanced into her cauldron. The color was correct and it was steaming nicely. It wasn't anything difficult, after all, she'd brewed Babbling Beverages enough times with her grandfather she hardly needed instructions.

 

“Um... yes?”

 

“Does it not say to _slice_ the flitterbloom pods?”

 

“Well, yes, of course. But if you do it this way it takes less time to release the juice and you can start stirring it ten minutes sooner. And it tastes better.”

 

Professor Wright pinched at the bridge of his nose, looking, if anything, even more irritated.

 

“And to think I'd hoped you'd be less of a problem than your brother Albus... Just follow the instructions in the _book_ , Ms Potter. If you want to do silly experiments, it will have to be on your own time.”

 

Lily bit at her lip, trying very hard not “sass back” (as her mother put it) but she very nearly wanted to shout at him. 'Silly experiments'? Grandfather isn't _silly_! She glanced across the room at her cousin Hugo, who was scratching his head as his cauldron gave off a faint pinkish glow. _Too many caterpillars, Hugo,_ she thought briefly, before turning back to her teacher.

 

“And don't give me that look, or you'll be in detention tonight.”

 

Professor Wright scraped the remaining crushed pods from her bench. “Go to the cupboard and get new flitterbloom pods, and finish the potion _correctly_.”

 

She waited until Wright moved on to another bench to look over at another student's cauldron and summoned three more of the pods with a whisper and a flick of her new cherry wood and phoenix feather wand, the lid of the glass jar clinking slightly as they flew up and out of it from the open cupboard.

 

She'd been so excited to be coming to Hogwarts, _finally_. She liked most of her classes so far, especially Herbology with Uncle Neville, but she had a bad feeling about Potions just now. Then there was the matter of her Sorting, which she still felt somewhat ambivalent over.

 

* * *

 

“First years this way, please!”

 

Lily crowded up behind her cousin Hugo and the Scamander twins as Professor Patiño-Williams, the Muggles Studies teacher, began speaking about the Sorting Ceremony.

 

Hugo turned around and whispered at her. “What house d'you think you'll get, Lil?”

 

“Dunno, Hugo.”

 

“Gryffindor I bet. I know that's where I'm going, sure of it. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else, right?”

 

Lily shrugged at him as she was jostled by a girl pushing her way toward some friend at the other side of the room.

 

“That would be fine, I guess.”

 

Hugo looked at her for a moment. “What, you'd rather be somewhere else? Don't tell me you're angling for _Slytherin_. Bad enough they got Albus already, don't you think?”

 

Lily shrugged again and jammed her hands down into her pockets. Patiño-Williams was going on and on in her Argentinian accent about the importance of _traditions_ now. Ugh.

 

The thing was, she _wanted_ to be in Gryffindor. But she also wanted to be with Albus and with her grandfather. She'd avoided bringing up the whole topic lately as most of the family were definitely Gryffindor through and through and on good days Grandfather just shook his head at them. Sometimes when the house chauvinism went on too long, though, he just sort of sank back into his seat or wandered off and she wondered what he was really thinking.

 

And it was no secret Albus often felt like the odd one out.

 

* * *

 

“Potter, Lily!”

 

 _Well, here goes nothing_ , she thought, as she picked up the dusty old hat and pulled it onto her head.

 

“Another Potter, eh? Or should I say a _Snape_?”

 

Something about that little wheedling voice annoyed her. “I don't care what you call me.” She fought down the urge to turn around and look to where her grandfather sat immediately behind her.

 

“A keen mind, yes? Courage enough, too. And plenty to prove... a difficult one...”

 

She looked at Hugo where he was still standing in line. She looked at Jamie over at Gryffindor's table, where he was craning his neck to see her better, with a crooked half-smile. Over at Slytherin, Albus was watching too, looking pensive and guarded. _I love them both_ , she thought, _you can't make me choose!_

 

“And loyalty too. You don't want to make this easy for an old hat. Ah, well...”

 

“GRYFFINDOR!”

 

Lily blinked stupidly for half a second, not sure just what had happened, but Professor Patiño-Williams jerked her head in the direction of the Gryffindor table, indicating that her time was up. Lily frowned and reluctantly pulled the hat off, dropping it back onto the stool. She glanced over at Albus, who was staring down at his lap. Jamie budged over when she got to the table and she sat down as he pulled her into half a hug, putting on a smile she wasn't entirely sure of as the rest of the first years were divvied up between the tables.

 

She _wanted_ to be in Gryffindor. Her parents would certainly be happy. So why did she feel like she'd suddenly been pulled in half?

 

Well, at least she'd have Jamie to keep her company for a couple of years until he finished, and her cousins Rose and Hugo.

 

* * *

 

Lily bottled her Babbling Beverage (which she knew would be too bitter), then cleaned up her bench. She started walking toward the door when Wright's voice caught up to her.

 

“Ms Potter, if you would stay for a moment, I'd like to have a word with you.”

 

Lily stopped where she was and stood with her back to the room as her classmates filed out past her, a few sparing her a sympathetic look, including her cousin.

 

“Catch you at dinner?”

 

“Sure, Hugo, save me a seat.”

 

At least it was the last class of the day, and she'd have the weekend to maybe catch up with Albus. She wasn't sure he was avoiding her, exactly, but...

 

“Ms Potter. A word?”

 

Lily sighed and walked over to where Professor Wright was seated behind the desk at the front of the room. _It's Grandfather's desk_ , she thought. _Why does_ _ **he**_ _have to teach the first five years?_

 

“Ms Potter, I realize you may have some, er, _experience_ , already, with potions, am I correct?”

 

Lily tried not to make a face at the way he said _~experience~_ but it was a struggle. “Grandfather has taught me a few things I guess.”

 

“Ah, yes. Of course. Your brother Albus also had such early tutelage, so I should not be surprised.”

 

Lily shrugged. “Yea, sometimes. Jamie wasn't interested as much.” Lily didn't like the way Wright was smiling at her, now. Something about his expression seemed rather false to her.

 

“Well, there is nothing wrong, per se, with experimenting with unorthodox methods as a... hobby, I suppose. But you are here to learn _proper_ technique, you understand? It's my job to make sure you know the _approved_ methods. It is also what you will be tested on.”

 

Lily was beginning to understand where her grandfather's occasional snide remarks about this man were coming from. Indeed, she was liking him less and less by the minute.

 

“My grandfather's potions aren't a _hobby_ , Professor. He's a very well respected Potions Master and-”

 

Wright's smile evaporated as he stood from his seat and leaned over her. He wasn't quite tall enough to pull off “intimidating” but however much she disliked the invasion of her personal space, she refused to take a step back.

 

“Ms Potter, I am not here to argue with you over the merits of Severus Snape's personal formulas. I am _informing_ you as to what I expect in _my_ classroom. And I absolutely will not tolerate rudeness. This is just your first week and I realize you may not quite understand how things are at Hogwarts yet, so I will let you off with a warning this time. You are dismissed.”

 

Lily remained standing where she was as he returned to his seat and picked up a random Babbling Beverage to inspect, apparently no longer interested in her. Lily turned on her heel and left the classroom.

 

* * *

 

“What a bag of hot air!”

 

Lily stabbed at her dinner.

 

“Don't take it personally, Lily, pretty much everyone thinks Wright's got a stick up his arse. I guess some of the Ravenclaws like him now that he's their head of house. Pity that Professor Flitwick retired last year, you'd have liked him.”

 

“I guess so Jamie, but I just don't see why he cares _how_ you make the bloody potion as long as it turns out.”

 

“Good thin' yer mum isn't aroun' to hear ya use wor's like tha'.”

 

“Oh shut up, Hugo, I've heard you say a lot worse. And try swallowing your food before you talk. You're as bad as Uncle Ron.”

 

Lily took a few more bites of her dinner and pushed her half-full plate aside. She wanted to talk to Albus. She wanted to talk to her grandfather, who was up at the table with the other teachers, sitting next to the headmistress. Unfortunately on the other side of him was Archibald Wright, and she had no desire to be anywhere near him at the moment.

 

“Jamie, is anyone going to have a conniption if I go sit with Albus for a minute?”

 

Her brother glanced over at the Slytherin table.

 

“Er, probably not? I mean if you're just popping over for a visit. I wouldn't get too chummy with the Slytherins, though. I mean Albus is one thing, he's our brother, and I know a couple of em that are decent enough but the rest... well, suit yourself I guess, but watch your back.”

 

Lily rolled her eyes. “You've been listening to too many old stories, Jamie. Things aren't like they used to be.”

 

Lily slid off the bench and went over to poke Albus between the shoulder blades. “Hey toerag, why haven't you talked to me all week?”

 

Albus turned on the bench slightly, craning his head to look up at her. “Oh, hey Lily.”

 

“Move over, I wanna sit a minute.”

 

An older girl a few seats down curled her lip. “Go back to Gryffindor, little girl.”

 

Lily ignored her and shoved her way onto the bench beside her brother, leaning into him heavily until he was forced to either acknowledge her presence or topple over.

 

“Lily, cut it out! You're not seven years old anymore. It's not like it is at home, you can't act like that here.”

 

She sat up a little straighter, feeling a little hurt by his rebuff.

 

“Well excuse me! I just thought you looked like you needed cheering up.”

 

“Lily... just go back to your table. We can get together later. I've got some homework to do in the library tomorrow, okay? Come by after lunch, alright?”

 

Lily stood and stepped over the bench. “You're really just going to be like that, is that it? I mean, what, are you ashamed of your family or something?”

 

“What? No, I'm not ashamed of you. You just don't understand yet. You'll figure it out, now go sit with Jamie and Rose and Hugo.”

 

Lily was hurt, alright. And rapidly approaching annoyance.

 

“I don't care about stupid houses, Albus. I know dad and everyone tease you about it and sometimes I think he's really bothered by it even if he says he's not, but it's just a bunch of old stuff and it doesn't _matter_ anymore, so just let go of it, okay? At least you can see Grandfather as much as you want to.”

 

Lily left before he had time to respond. She didn't feel like going back to her table. She didn't feel like going back to her dorm, either. The two other girls she shared a room with now were okay, but they weren't who she wanted right now.

 

* * *

 

“You're out after curfew. It's not quite the end of the first week, Lily.”

 

His voice was soft behind her, but she could hear the disappointment in it. Another owl flew past, the image rippled in the ancient hand-blown glass pane of the corridor window she'd been staring out of for the last hour, watching the sky darken and stars appearing.

 

She shrugged without turning around. She didn't have an excuse. She couldn't put words together into any kind of coherent explanation. Everything just felt wrong.

 

“Lily, you need to go back to your dormitory immediately or I will have to dock points. Personally, I do not care in the slightest if you lose every single point Gryffindor has, but I can assure you, your housemates will not be impressed.”

 

Lily's eyes stung, tears threatening but not quite coming. _You're not seven years old anymore_ , Albus had said.

 

“I just... I think I want to go home.”

 

She could hear him slowly draw in and let out a breath behind her. A hand settled on her shoulder, coaxing her to turn around. She couldn't quite help herself and settled for simply leaning into him and burying her face against his robes. She could tell he'd recently been tending the cauldron of Wolfsbane he brewed every month from the familiar scent of aconite and smoke which clung to the heavy cloth.

 

“Lily...”

 

She wrapped her arms around him more tightly.

 

“Oh, very well. Come, we can talk for a bit, but then I will take you back to your dormitory and you will _stay there_.”

 

Lily held onto him for another moment before letting him go, then followed him, jogging slightly to keep up with his longer stride as he led her down unfamiliar staircases and corridors.

 

By the time her legs were starting to tire he finally stopped at an old, unpromising looking door in the castle's dungeons.

 

“Lily, I will give you the password to my rooms, but only on the condition that you do not _abuse_ it. You are not to share it with other students, nor are you to bring anyone with you without asking me first. If I ask you not to come at certain times or to leave, I do not want you arguing with me. I have other duties outside of the classroom and my free time is somewhat limited here. And I absolutely do not want you coming down here on your own after curfew. If there is some kind of emergency, you could reach your own head of house much more quickly, do you understand?”

 

“Yes, of course, Grandfather.”

 

He regarded her in the dim torchlight for another moment, then turned to the door, placing his hand on the ancient pitted and stained wood.

 

“ _Datura_ ”

 

Lily stood waiting for some sort of visible effect but her grandfather simply turned the handle and pulled the door open.

 

* * *

 

“I'm afraid I cannot help you with your brother. The two of you are at a... difficult age. I am quite certain that if I simply told him to spend more time with you, that he might do so, but he would resent both of us for it. As for Wright, he is a dunderhead but he is also a professor and you would do well to simply do as he says as it will make your own life vastly easier. We can work outside of the standard curriculum over holidays.”

 

Lily kicked off her shoes and pulled her knees up onto the threadbare sofa in her grandfather's small sitting room (which apparently doubled as a personal office with an old roll-top desk in the corner nearly buried under stacks of papers and journals).

 

“You're probably right. I just wish things would stay the way they _were_. And I miss my old school. It wasn't so... _big_.”

 

Her grandfather sat down next to her, a mug of tea in each hand. She sipped at hers before setting it aside. Several minutes of silence passed between them.

 

“I'm sorry, Grandfather. I don't mean to complain so much. I like Hogwarts, I really do. I just don't feel like I fit in, I guess.”

 

“It's been one week, Lily. Give it time. You've had the same friends in Godric's Hollow, more or less since you were all still in nappies. And plenty of cousins coming and going as well. This is all quite new, it will take some time for you to 'fit in' as you say.”

 

“Dad sort of told me a while ago not to ask about it, but did you like it here at all? As a student?”

 

Her grandfather finished his tea and set the empty mug on a side table. Perhaps her dad had been right, and it had been the wrong question.

 

“Lily, I am not sure there is any benefit to answering that question, but to put it succinctly – no, I did not. But your situation is not comparable to my own in any fashion. There were... other factors involved that put me in a bad position before I ever arrived here. And I made some rather abysmal choices afterward.”

 

Lily really was sorry she'd asked now. She wasn't totally ignorant about her grandfather's “shady” past, after all. She might have been five or six years old the first time another child had started calling her names and she'd had to ask her mum and dad what a “death eater” was and why they were calling her one. She couldn't really imagine her grandfather trying to hurt anybody without a good reason, but she supposed he must have done. But that was all a long time ago, wasn't it? It wasn't who he is _now_.

 

“Never mind. I shouldn't have said anything.”

 

“Lily love, there is no reason to believe you can't enjoy your time here. You'll make some friends sooner or later, I do not doubt. I would advise you to choose them wisely, is all.”

 

Lily picked her mug back up and drank the rest, growing drowsy between the warmth of the tea and the warmth of her grandfather beside her, slumping over against his shoulder.

 

“Hm, I think I'd best take you back upstairs before you nod off on my sofa.”

 

“'m not asleep... an' why can't I stay here? I don't mind the sofa. No class tomorrow anyway.”

 

“Lily love...”

 

He pushed her upright and she opened her eyes reluctantly.

 

“Lily, I think I may have been remiss in not explaining something better earlier. Your brothers seemed to understand it intuitively but... well, you and I are little closer, aren't we?”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

“I am still your grandfather here, but I am also a member of the school's staff. I have duties here. As do you. Tonight cannot be repeated. If you had been any other student or had I been any other teacher, Gryffindor would be at least five points down and somebody would be scrubbing cauldrons out by hand tomorrow afternoon. And if I catch you outside of your dormitory after curfew a second time, that is precisely what I will have to give you. Do you understand why that is, Lily?”

 

Lily thought about it for a moment. She didn't like it, but she thought maybe she understood.

 

“You don't want people thinking you're picking favorites, is that it?”

 

“Hm, not precisely. Strictly speaking, we are not allowed 'favorites', although every teacher in this school has them and it is generally ignored. But there are limits. It is... not my inclination to be harsh with you, as you well know, but the headmistress will only tolerate so much. You could put me in a very difficult position.”

 

Lily shook her head. “I don't want to get you into trouble.”

 

“I am very glad to hear it. Stay out of trouble yourself and we'll both have a better time of it, hm? As well, both of your brothers have spent many a detention with me and while I do not think they are overly envious of you, I think they would notice if I were particularly lenient. And generally my Slytherins are not foolish enough to raise my ire and would not attempt to interfere with you, but they would not be at all pleased should I let any Gryffindor get away with too much, even you. Albus has enough difficulty as it is getting on with his housemates. You could put _him_ in a difficult situation as well.”

 

“I guess I hadn't thought of that. I hope he doesn't hate me now. I didn't really _choose_ Gryffindor. I think that hat just figured it might as well put another Weasley-ginger in there to go with the rest. It didn't seem very sure about anything until it just shouted out.”

 

“Hm, it did seem to take its time, although you did not quite qualify as an actual hatstall. Did your father ever tell you the hat nearly put _him_ in Slytherin? He'd had an unpleasant altercation with Scorpius Malfoy's father on the train and apparently more or less demanded to be put anywhere else.”

 

Lily smiled, remembering that story. Her dad's version had been rather more animated, though.

 

“Yea, he told us that. Especially after Albus seemed a bit weird about it. I thought he was lucky, he gets as much time with you as _he_ wants.”

 

“Is Albus sitting on my sofa right now?”

 

“Well, no.”

 

“I think you may be overestimating the amount of free time that either of us possess. We will find time to spend together if you like, but soon you will have other things to occupy yourself with and forget all about your boring old grandfather.”

 

“You're not boring and I _won't_.”

 

“Come along, I will walk you back to your dormitory. It is getting rather late and weekend or not, you need your sleep.”

 

“But can't I stay here on the sofa? Just for tonight? I don't know why it matters, tomorrow's a Saturday.”

 

He seemed to consider the request and Lily was certain he was about to give in.

 

“Lily, you share your room with a few other girls, correct? I seem to remember more than one girl being sorted into Gryffindor.”

 

“Yes, but they don't really talk to me much.”

 

“That is not the point. They will notice you are absent tonight and still absent in the morning. When you see them at breakfast, what precisely will you tell them?”

 

Lily shrugged. “That I was staying with my grandfather, what else would I tell them?”

 

He closed his eyes for a moment rubbed at them with one hand.

 

“Lily, my reputation here is not quite as dire as it was when your father was a student, but I must warn you that I am not exactly favored by most of the student body, outside of a small minority of those taking my N.E.W.T.s classes. You may well be making things more difficult for _yourself_ to be seen with me too frequently.”

 

“If people don't like me because of that then I don't want them to like me anyway. And maybe you're not everyone's favorite teacher but you're still _my_ favorite.”

 

Her grandfather stood and kissed the top of her head.

 

“That's enough. We can speak more tomorrow. If you are unsure of how to find your way back here, ask Albus or one of the Slytherin prefects. I will let them know you have my permission. Now come along.”

 

Lily reluctantly dragged herself to her feet and followed the tall shadow of her grandfather back through the dark corridors of the castle until he bid her goodnight outside of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

 

“Well, isn't that _sweet_. I never would have guessed that old snake could be so sentimental!”

 

Lily scowled at the portrait. “Just let me in, I told you the password's 'Sekhmet' already.”

 

The portrait chuckled to herself as she finally permitted Lily to pass through.

 

“I suppose there's bound to be _some_ family resemblance, even in a Gryffindor...”

 


End file.
